Workforce homes

Andrew Boff: What incentives have you explored for businesses to provide investment in new homes which could benefit their workforce?

The Mayor: Through my Affordable Homes Programme 2016-2023, I have delivered a record number of affordable homes, and my London Plan (Intend to Publish version) policies will help ensure that public sector land makes a greater contribution to delivering affordable homes in future.
Given the urgent need for affordable housing and the importance of retaining key public sector workers, I have worked closely with major public sector employers and landowners. With NHS trusts and other partners, I established the London Estates Board so that surplus land can be identified, and proper investment secured to deliver the affordable homes key workers need.
My London Housing Strategy also makes clear my support for genuinely affordable homes for key workers on land owned by Government department and agencies.

Tenancy Deposits (1)

Shaun Bailey: Can you provide an update on helping private renters by expanding the use of tenancy deposit loans across London?

The Mayor: Making renting more affordable for Londoners is vital. Through my Good Work Standard, I am encouraging employers to make interest-free tenancy deposit loans available as part of a package of measures to support their employees. In total, over 90 employers have been accredited through my Good Work Standard, covering 210,000 employees. As set out in my response to question 2020/4670, I also supported the launch of London First’s Employer Housing Pledge in 2017, which included tenancy deposit loans. I have successfully lobbied government to ban rip-off letting agent fees and cap tenancy deposits charged by landlords and, in response to COVID-19, I am calling for grants to be provided to help renters impacted by the pandemic and a two-year rent freeze to ease the pressure of unaffordable rents on renters already bearing the brunt of this crisis.

Tenancy Deposits (2)

Shaun Bailey: Which private employers have agreed to offer tenancy deposits?

The Mayor: Please see my response to question 2020/4670.

Downsizing

Andrew Boff: What policies do you plan to introduce to help older Londoners downsize into smaller homes?

The Mayor: I already run two successful schemes specifically aimed at enabling social housing tenants to downsize, Housing Moves for those who want to move within London and Seaside and Country Homes for older tenants who want to move to a rural or coastal area. By delivering homes for older people, my Care and Support Specialised Housing programme also provides opportunities for older Londoners wishing to downsize. These complement the work local authorities and housing associations to support opportunities for those on Housing Needs Registers or their own tenants to transfer to smaller homes.
My Intend to Publish London Plan makes clear that boroughs should ensure a range of new homes are provided that meet the needs of those who wish to downsize. These may well include specialist housing for older people (for which the Plan outlines annual benchmarks at borough-level).

Housing associations

Andrew Boff: What work have you done with housing associations to keep their rents down for existing tenants?

The Mayor: Housing associations are required to comply with the Rent Standard set and implemented by the Regulator of Social Housing.
I have consistently rejected the Government’s dodgy definition of “Affordable Rent” at 80% of market rents. I am committed to increasing the supply of genuinely affordable homes for low-cost rent and I continue to impress upon the Government London’s acute need for new social rented homes. I am pleased that they were persuaded that over half of the homes funded through the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme I recently announced will be social rented homes.

Lettings agency

Andrew Boff: Do you have any plans to set up a not-for-profit lettings agency for good landlords? If so, when will this be established?

The Mayor: I do not have plans to set up a not-for-profit lettings agency. When I took office, I was determined to tackle the egregious fees letting agents were charging tenants across London. Thanks to lobbying by me and other voices in the sector, and despite opposition from some Members of the London Assembly, these fees were banned in 2018. In the intervening years, many councils in the capital have moved away from the social lettings agency model as it is increasingly difficult to establish viable schemes in London, where the market for landlords’ business is enormously competitive. There are better ways that I can support renters, including my Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker and new Property License Checker, my new private rented sector enforcement qualification for councils, the illegal eviction prevention training I have arranged for Met police officers, and lobbying for changes to security of tenure and welfare. I continue to support organisations running social lettings agencies.

Land banking

Andrew Boff: What discussions have you had with central government regarding devolving “use it or lose it” powers to prevent land banking?

The Mayor: I am committed to supporting the pace of housing delivery in London and have supported the Government to develop effective measures to get homes built faster through, for example, my response to Sir Oliver Letwin’s Independent Review of Housing Build Out Rates. The review found that affordable housing can play an important role in de-risking development and unlocking faster build out, and I have called on the Government to recognise and meet the scale of funding needed to support this.
The Covid-19 Housing Delivery Taskforce, convened by my Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development to plot a route to recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, sets out recommendations for the GLA to work with the Government to support a range of measures that will unlock more land for housing and support development. These recommendations include reform of the CPO process, and the introduction of a new Compulsory Selling Order power for councils.
I have also adopted a threshold approach to viability which provides a Fast Track Route for developers who meet the affordable housing threshold, including an incentive to develop before the two-year review mechanism is triggered.

Affordable Housing Programme 2021-26 (3)

Andrew Boff: Will any of the £4 billion allocated for the 2021-26 programme be used to deliver the 116,000 homes within the 2016-23 programme?

The Mayor: The funding settlement for the current AHP 2016-23 programme (£4.82bn) is separate to the funding settlement of £4bn for the AHP 2021-26 programme, which will be used in full to support 35,000 affordable homes.

Housing investment

Andrew Boff: What efforts have you made to use City Hall as a platform to attract institutional investors, pension and other investment funds to finance homes for long term, secure rent, and what has been the outcome of these efforts?

The Mayor: Please see Mayor’s Question 2020/3545 for information on how the Mayor has used City Hall as a platform to attract institutional investors, pension and other investment funds to finance homes for long term, secure rent; and the outcome of these efforts to date.

Affordable Housing Programme 2021-26 (5)

Andrew Boff: Will you please provide a breakdown of how many homes will be started and completed from the 2021-26 programme each year?

The Mayor: The AHP 2021-26 programme funding guide was launched in November 2020 and allocations from the bidding round are expected to be announced in June 2021. Following that I will be in a position to determine the annual profile of homes from 2021 to 2026.

Affordable Housing Programme 2021-26 (4)

Andrew Boff: How many homes in the 2021-26 programme do you expect to be family sized with three bedrooms or more? How many will be one-bedroom and how many will be two-bedroom?

The Mayor: I have not set targets to fund homes of different sizes in the new Affordable Homes Programme because my new London Plan asks boroughs, for the first time, to set out size and mix requirements for new social housing in their local policies based on evidence of local need. Instead of setting a top-down London-wide target, this approach provides boroughs with the flexibility to set size and mix policies which are right for their area.
The move away from fixed tariff rates to negotiated grant rates in the new AHP gives partners the opportunity to bring forward schemes with more larger family-sized homes and request grant levels required to make those schemes viable.

Construction

Andrew Boff: How many working days were lost after the Mayor’s decision to stop work on housebuilding sites in 2020 due to coronavirus?

The Mayor: The GLA does not hold data on working days on housebuilding sites.
The decision to pause work on such sites was taken by our partners in response to emerging Public Health England guidance and my encouragement for work to be deferred where it was not safety critical. This action was critical in keeping workers safe and containing the spread of the virus in the city.
The impact of coronavirus on the productivity of construction sites continues - as Public Health England guidelines required reduced or staggered on-site presence of workers - and I will continue to work with the industry to support construction and housing delivery without undermining public health objectives.

Affordable Housing Programme 2021-26 (2)

Andrew Boff: How much of the £4 billion affordable housing funding for 2021-26 will not be used to fund the 35,000 homes set out in MD2707? What alternative projects will this money be spent on, and how many homes will this deliver?

The Mayor: The settlement for £4bn for the AHP 2021-26 programme will be used in full to support 35,000 affordable homes.

Tenancy Deposits (3)

Shaun Bailey: Which and how many private employers have agreed to offer tenancy deposits as part of the GLA's London First scheme?

The Mayor: London First’s Employers Pledge on Housing was launched in 2017. Through this pledge, employers signed up to providing housing support to their employees, including by offering tenancy deposit loans. To support this campaign, I wrote to employers encouraging them to sign up to the pledge. London First are no longer running this campaign and as set out in my response to 2020/4668, I continue to support employers to provide tenancy deposit loans through my Good Work Standard.
Employers that signed up to the London First pledge – covering 120,000 employees across the capital - are listed below:
ARUP
Bird College
Child Graddon Lewis
Deloitte
Dolphin Living
Essential Living
Golin
Grant Thornton
Greater London Authority
Heathrow Airport
Hexagon
Iceni
JLL
LB Hackney
LB Camden
Lichfields
London Communications Agency
London Fire Brigade
London & Partners
London First
London Legacy Development Corporation
Mace
Metropolitan Police
Morgan Stanley
Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation
Optimity
Pinsent Masons
Portman Estate
Quintain
Shroders
Shaftesbury
Transport for London
Trim Editing
Thames Valley Housing
UK Power Networks
Westfield
West London Business
ZSAH

Live-work units

Andrew Boff: Can you confirm how many live-work units have been provided as part of your affordable housing programme?

The Mayor: The GLA Open Project system used to project manage schemes approved in the Affordable Housing 2016-21 programme does not hold information to explicitly identify these types of units. Funding approvals for all projects are made on the merit of the general affordable housing criteria set out in the AH 16-21 and Addendum funding guides available on the GLA website.